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Get rich sound from a compact bookshelf design

Don't let the StudioMonitor 55's size fool you — this compact bookshelf speaker belts out big bass that adds depth and richness to your movie soundtracks and stereo music. Each rock-solid cabinet features an advanced 6-1/2" mid/bass driver that's pressure-coupled to a top-mounted bass radiator for high-impact sound. Together, they provide more total bass radiating area than a 10" woofer, but with greater control, definition and speed than a single large cone. A 1" pure aluminum dome tweeter serves up crisp, extended highs that blend in beautifully with the mids and lows. The StudioMonitor 55 is the result of more than 20 years of research and development by Definitive in their quest to create speakers with a perfect balance of style, utility, and performance.

Definitive's second-generation patented BDSS driver

High-tech driver design for impressive performance

The StudioMonitor 55 is chock full of technology that's also found in Definitive's top-of-the-line speaker models. Its 6-1/2" mid/bass driver uses their latest Balanced Dual Surround System (BDSS) driver design, which places a surround on both the outer and inner edge of the speaker cone. This helps the cone remain more stable as it moves, resulting in clearer, more accurate sound — even at high volume levels. The '55's mid/bass driver also gets Definitive's second-generation Linear Response Waveguide™. This mushroom-shaped post in the center of the cone smooths off-axis frequency response for broad, even sound dispersion and a more realistic sonic "image." That means every listener in the room gets to hear balanced, open sound with lifelike vocals and instruments.

Crisp, sparkling highs

Definitive also equipped the StudioMonitor 55 with their latest 1" pure aluminum dome tweeter. This advanced driver is first heat-treated to relax the crystal structure of the metal, then coated with a ceramic that helps produce clear, sparkling highs without a trace of edginess. You'll easily hear the subtle high-frequency details in your music, like the sound of wire brushes gently sweeping the snare head, or the bell-like ring of a brass cymbal.

It's all in the details

Definitive paid close attention to other important design elements, too — both visible and hidden. At its heart, the StudioMonitor 55 uses a sophisticated crossover network with audiophile-grade components that include over-sized inductor coils and Mylar film capacitors. These give you a smoother, flatter frequency response, more powerful dynamics, and faster transients, for sound with real presence and immediacy. Sturdy, vault-like cabinet construction also plays a big role in this speaker's performance. The '55's well-damped, cross-braced enclosure features a specially contoured front baffle with tapered sides to minimize diffraction and vibrations that can color your sound and reduce accuracy.

Got wire?

Did you know?
Your new speakers will probably sound better after several weeks of use than they do right out of the box. That's because the material surrounding the woofers will loosen up, allowing the drivers to move more fully. Definitive Technology estimates a break-in period of 24 to 48 hours of playback before the speakers will deliver optimum sound quality. For more information and helpful tips, check out this article from Definitive's website about conditioning your speakers.

Why choose bookshelf speakers?

Bookshelf speakers may be small in size, but they can deliver surprisingly big sound. Some ultra-compact models even fit on a desktop. Most are right at home in tight spaces like shelves, so they're usually good choices for your home theater's rear channels. For the best performance, try placing bookshelf speakers on solid speaker stands to help the sound really "open up." If you want full bass impact, add a powered subwoofer and enjoy punchy sound that's as deeply satisfying as that of floor-standing speakers.

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Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 55

Overwhelmed! Utterly . The amazed how detailed these speakers deliver my jazz CD's Looking forward to hearing them all over again. Movies are so much more detailed. The best part was receiving them the next day two days prior to Father's Day. Happy Fathers Day to me.

DT SM55

Running a Yamaha Aventage 1020, with a SVS PB1000 sub, DT PC 1000. Replacing Bose 901s, 301s, and a set of DT450s. Intially disapointed by the 55s. They are a lot lighter then the 450s, probably in the magnets. The 55s do not seem to be as warm and present as the 450s. Set them up using Yamaha mic and YPAO. The 55s did not reproduce the bass and prsence of the 450s even then. The 55s have the bass radiator on the top the 450s on the side. So I laid the 55s on their side with the raditor facing in, and yes much closer to the 450s. Give them som break in time and yes the bass is coming alive, the highs and mid range are tremendous. Still waiting for the bass. They are very sensitive to the source of your listening if it is or is not in the source music you will either hear it it or not. I run them through pure dierct mode on the Yamaha which is just 2.0 with no processing whatsoever. Starting to come alive. Well still not there yet. So I bi amp them to the Yahmaha using the extra amps per Yamahas instruction, and 14 gauge monoprice wire. Run the YPAO again 55s still on their side. The clarity and separationn of instruments is tremendous. Do not bi amp looking for more volume do it for sound clarity. The biamped 55s remind me of my Dads Acoustic Reserch speakers from the 60s ran with a Lafeyette receiver. The biamping sets them alive, I hear things I have never heard before. Added DT ProM 1000s as surrounds and the Timbre match is incredible, movies blow me away.

Pros:Looks, Solid build, BiAmping is a go to, perfect timbre match with DT Pro Monitor 1000 series surronds and center, movies are incrediable with this set up. They blend very well to perfectly with the SVS turned down and the Yamaha crossover set to 100. Got to give Yamaha some credit to awesome receiver. Def Tech is superb You cannot go wrong with there set ups. I have been a fan of reflected music for some time now starting with my 901s. DT has won me over for a more traditional approach.

Cons:Not sure there are any. Must be patient and willing to tweak there location. Remember trying laying them on their sides with the radiator either facing in or out depending on your room and preferences.

Great Monitor Speaker

My Def Tech SM 55's are not fully broken in yet but they are already sounding fantastic. I upgraded from the SM45's which are terrific speakers in their own right, but these are a definite step up. They already compete quite well with my other speakers, Monitor Audio Silver RX6 tower speakers, and when they're fully broken in I believe they will best them.

A Good Speaker

This is a decent speaker, but when I compared to my older JBL T100 speakers it was no contest. The older JBs had all the highs etc. of this speaker, but way more 'body'. I carefully AB'd these 55s with the JBLs they just did not make the cut, even with my sub.

Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 55

This is an outstanding product . I replaced two 30+ year old Infinity 48" high tower speakers each with double 10" push pull woofers with these mini monitors, in a 12 by 20 ft room with openings to a dining area and a hallway, and did not expect too much. I was astounded by these little gems in tandem with a MartinLogan Dynamo 700 sub. Even without the sub the bass was deep and room filling. With the sub they easily surpassed my old infinity monsters. I especially liked the fact that they are not ported and have a passive top radiator so my bass does not shoot out into the dining room and hallway as with a rear ported speaker.. Critical listeners have confirmed my evaluation. Delivery by Crutchfield was within 23 hours of my order.

SM 55

Rediscovering my very well-recorded and extremely eclectic music collection on my new small(a bit less than 12' x 9') listening room. Paired to a quite nice turntable(on a solid wall mount), a beefy (150w/ch @ 8 ohms) made in Japan receiver and two very good cd players. Nothing "high-end"(marketing bull).just perfect placement (spikes on shelf, tweeters at ear level, seated, slight toe-in). Proper break-in. Attained the ideal of music reproduction: total intelligibility, a big soundstage, extended dynamic range and more than the occasional,watery-eyed goosebumps. These babes are mind boggling. Deep-flat bass, holographic presence of voices and instruments, sweet decay of cymbals and guitars... oh my...if music is a drug, as it is for me, these machines are akin to intravenous delivery devices.

Pros:Premium floor-standing speaker sound for the size and price of merely good bookshelf's.
(If that is not for you a breakthrough, my friend, consider sitting down and wait for cold fusion or world peace.)

Cons:Kind of ugly without grilles, but the magic seems unaffected by them, they seem acoustically transparent.
Anyway got the SM 55's for function, not form.The black finish on dimmed light makes them to visually disappear, which is good. Anyway I do not go out with them, but with my wife. Now, she not only looks good, but she LOVES our new small room. Was that kinky? You bet ! Remember college dorm? There you go.
A good music room is the ultimate time machine.

A bargain

Outstanding speakers. Great sound reproduction with lots of bass. Very neutral without sounding too bright or too boomy. Absolutely no distortion even after cranking the volume of my amp all the way up (rated at "130W" per channel). I'm using them as free standing speakers on stands, and after using the amplifier microphone to use the Audyssey MultiEQ system to calibrate them, it detected them as "Full Range" speakers. Impressive. I still set the crossover at 60Hz, though, per the manufacturer recommendations, since I have a dedicated subwoofer for the lower frequencies (relieving the main amplifier from having to run those power hungry lower frequencies). Nice craftmanship. For the price, they are extremely hard to beat. Even more so if you get them at open box price.

Pros:Great sound reproduction. For music and movies. Even when used as freestanding speakers.

Cons:Size. A little deep for a standard "bookshelf". But form follows function. And that extra depth allows it to accomodate the top 10" passive radiator that gives it the capabily of full bass reproduction. So for "full range" speakers, they are actually "compact".

Studio Monitor 55

I tested several bookshelf speakers to be used with a McIntosh Reciever area B stereo rated at 100W/channel. The DR set has a fuller range sound than any of the new Martin Logan and B&W offerings. For a set to be used with no sub the DR is it for me.

studio 55

These speakers are relatively small in my opinion, but deliver terrific sound. I am using them as front right and left speakers and I am very pleased with them. Crutchfield had them at them at the going price. They delivered them very quickly. They were packaged safely and arrived without damage, and I had the peace of mind of having Crutchfield's guarantee.

Super performer, period.

This is a great performer, I`m using the SM-55 as my mains. The partner in crime for surrounds the sm-45, and together the SM`s work as one and with authority...not only has the bass response of a much larger speaker, it's a great-sounding speaker. The StudioMonitor 55s didn't seem to mind playing loud enough to rock out in my large loft space.... Great dynamics, imaging and soundstage. 100000 thumbs up

Solid Performance, expected quality

These babies are exactly what I am looking for. I became acquainted with Definitive several years ago at Best Buy of all places... the 55s are great for the user who doesn't have a lot of space, but still wants room-filling, rich, and bright sound. I have these powered off a dinky NuForce Dia running in tandem with an older Definitive pair of ProCinemas for fuller sound space. Also have a Definitive sub powered from the Dia's line out.

You could easily run these 55s by themselves, but the sub works for my taste.

Pros:design, build quality, style, suave

Cons:maybe a little large, but not really that large considering the sound you get from them

Good in Price Range, Not Great

Overall, these are very good speakers in this price range. I planned to use them for music only in a 2-channel system in my bedroom. I was pleased with the midrange and treble tonaility and detail. Bass extension was very good for this size of bookshelf speaker, due to the passive radiator on top, as other reviewers have mentioned. However, I was somewhat disappointed with the imaging and soundstage. Regardless of placement, it would never quite snap into focus. I had the entire short wall of the room to play with, but never found an optimal placement. I have replaced these with a pair of small floorstanding speakers that were very easy to place, and provide excellent imaging and soundstage depth. I'm going to try these as front speakers in my home theater system, a Def Tech Pro Cinema 600. Hopefully they will work well as an upgrade to those speakers.

Pros:Excellent bass extension for bookshelf speaker, very dynamic, good mid and treble detail.

impressive sound

My old speaker towers needed replacing after a room remodel. Working with a Crutchfield adviser helped me get past my concern that the bookshelf speakers would not be an adequate substitute. These speakers are phenomenal. The 6.5 inch woofer provides plenty of bass (I do not have a subwoofer, and don't feel that I need one for classical music), and the aluminum tweeter gives ample high range, although I have to boost the treble on the amp to get a good balance. The design of the speaker produces bass from the top as well as the front, possibly explaining the remarkable force of the bass range. These speakers more than fill a large living room with cathedral ceiling and easily take the power beyond what is a comfortable listening volume. Top-notch performance at a reasonable price.

Great bookshelf speakers

I spent quite some time looking at a variety of bookshelf speakers prior to picking up a pair of these. I wanted a non-ported design that had decent lower end extension and these certainly fit the bill. While probably not suited for bass heavy Rap, electronica or dubstep they work great for the Jazz, Classical, Blues, Metal and Rock I've played through them. While there was some slight harshness initially to the highs but that mellowed after about 15 hours of use. Overall a great bookshelf speaker and I'm pleased with my choice.

Pros:Beautiful cabinets, look great with grills on or off.
Accurate with great sound and surprising low end from a bookshelf speaker.

Cons:Not so much a con as a warning, be careful when removing the speaker from packaging. These speakers ship with the grills off, and the top grill covers the bass radiator. Recommendation when removing from packaging is to lift on the sides to avoid possible damage to speakers.

Product Research

Driver Technology

StudioMonitor Series: The Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 55 is a
compact bookshelf loudspeaker designed for use in audio/video entertainment
systems. Because the StudioMonitor 55 is a true full-range speaker with extended
low-frequency response, it delivers superb performance both as stand-alone
speaker and when combined with a separate subwoofer. Due to its compact size,
wide-range, high-power handling, and natural articulate clarity; the StudioMonitor
55 loudspeaker is ideal for use as front, center, or surround speaker in a home theater
environment.

Pure Aluminum Dome Tweeter: The 1" tweeter is a pure aluminum dome,
which has been heat-treated to relax the crystal structure and then coated
with a ceramic to produce
smooth, extended highs. A new patent pending Linear Response Waveguide
smoothes off-axis frequency response and disperses sound over a wider area
for crystal clear intelligibility for every listener in the room.

Pressure Coupled Radiator Design: The 6.5" BDSS midrange
driver is pressure coupled to a top-mounted 6"x10" racetrack bass radiator to
extend and amplify bass frequencies. The total bass radiating from a
StudioMonitor 55 is substantially greater than that of a single 10-inch woofer
but with far greater control, definition and speed than a single sluggish large
woofer. The StudioMonitor 55 speaker's bass performance offers depth, detail,
and musicality.

Note: Due to the top-mounted racetrack bass radiator, there should
be at least 2" of space above the bookshelf loudspeaker.

Phase-Coherent Crossover Networks: The crossover network is the real heart
of a loudspeaker as it is responsible for perfectly blending together the sound
of the various drivers into a musically seamless whole. The sophisticated
crossover network design used in the StudioMonitor 55 loudspeaker features premium audiophile-grade components; such
as oversized inductors and Mylar capacitors for audiophile-grade sound quality,
with linear phase and frequency response. An integrated Zobel network flattens
the impedance of the system so that even budget amplifiers will be able to drive
the StudioMonitor 55 loudspeaker (although a premium amplifier will bring out
all the performance it has to offer). As a result, the audio signal's phase coherence,
transient response, and dynamic integrity is preserved for absolutely lifelike
music and home theater reproduction in your home.

Connections

Bi-amp/Bi-wire Binding Posts: Each StudioMonitor 55
bookshelf loudspeaker has two sets of heavy-duty, all metal binding post speaker
terminals (connected by metal jumpers) to attach your receiver's speaker wire.
Using the dual binding posts, you can bi-amp or bi-wire the speakers for even
better sound.
The binding post speaker terminals will accept bare wire (up to 10AWG), pin-connectors,
spade-connectors, and banana-plugs (single only).

Color-Coded: The speaker's binding posts are color-coded
(red/black) for easy identification between positive and negative.

Mounting Options

Table-Top Mounting: The StudioMonitor 55 loudspeaker can be
simply placed on a bookshelf, table-top, or speaker stand (such as the
Definitive Technology
StudioStand, sold separately ). Four self-adhesive rubber feet are included
to protect your furniture's surface.

Wall Mounting: The optional PinPoint heavy duty side-grip
wall-mounting bracket (121AM41B,
sold separately) can be used to wall mount the speaker.

Note: The speaker does not include any type of
wall-mount bracket, threaded inserts, or keyhole slots.

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